Merchandise-display cabinet.



O. H. HElNlG.

MERCHANDISE DISPLAY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1918.

1,289,758, Patented 1m. 31, 1918.

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O. H. HEINIG.

MERCHANDISE DlSPLAY CABINET,

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1918.

1,289 758 Patented Dec. 31,1918.

7 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2- 6g 54 4 9 L35 4 6 av O. H. HElNIG.

MERCHANDISE DISPLAY CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5. i918.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3 OSCAR H. HEINIG, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

MERCHANDISE-DISPLAY CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

Application filed January 5, 1918. Serial No. 210,471.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR H. HEINIG, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Merchandise-DisplayCabinets, of which the following is a specification.

v The present invention has to do with certain improvements inmerchandise display cabinets and the like, such as are used inmerchandising of shirts, underwear, etc. While the features of inventionare shown and described as used in connection with a cabinet which isvery well adapted for certain particular classes of service, still Iwish to make it distinctly understood that the said features are in nowise limited to this particular or any other class of service.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a cabinet which, whenclosed, will be to all intents and purposes dust-proof, and will fullyprotect the merchandise contained within it. Another object of theinvention is to provide a display cabinet having a rack or drawer inwhich the merchandise may be carried, which rack or drawer may be slidout so as to expose the merchandise fully to the view of a customer, andso as to facilitate the removal of the merchandise from the cabinet.Another object of the invention is to so relate such rack or drawer tothe doors that as the rack or drawer is moved in and out the doors willbe automatically opened or closed as the case may be without particularattention on the part of the clerk.

Another feature of the invention has reference to the use of a concealedlock for manipulating the movements of the drawer and doors, so thatunauthorized persons will not readily gain access to the interior of thecabinet, and will not readily open the same.

Another feature of the invention has reference to the provision of anarrangement such that it will be practically impossible for the clerk orother user to catch his hand or fingers between the doors as the draweris closed, thus minimizing the possibility of accident in this regard.

Many other objects and uses of the invention will appear from a detaileddescription of the same which consists in the features of constructionand combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a cabinet embodying the features ofthe present invention, the doors being fully opened, and the drawer orrack being partially withdrawn;

Fig. 2 shows a vertical cross section through the central portion of thestructure, being a cross section substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 8,looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 shows a bottom plan view of the cabinet, the doors, drawer, andslide being in the fully closed position;

Fig. 4 shows a longitudinal section taken on the line 1l of Fig. 3,looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4: may also be consideredas a section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrows;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4, with the exception that the slidehas been withdrawn sufficiently to lock it to the drawer or rack;

Fig. 6 isa view similar to Fig. 5, with the exception that the slide hasbeen still further withdrawn so as to fully open the drawer or rack andthe doors; and

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 2, lookingin the direction of the arrows, the drawer or rack being fully opened.

As a matter of convenience in illustration, I have tshown the featuresof the present invention as being applied to a self-contained cabinetwhich may be used either independently of other cabinets or which may bebuilt into a stack of cabinets. The cabinet illustrated in the drawingscomprises the box-like structure having the top 8, side walls 9 and 10,and back 11. Along the bottom portions of the side walls 9 and 10 aresecured the guide rails 12 and 13, and a cross piece It is securedacross the bottom portion of the back 11. The blocks 15 and 16 aresecured to the lower front portions of the side walls 9 and 10 and tothe front ends such'as shirts and the like, which may be carried withinthe drawer.

Secured to the bottom portion of the drawer, are the extending guiderails 26 and 27. Each of these is provlded with the side beads ortongues 28 and 29, best shown in Fig. 2.

Mounted within suitable sockets or recesses of the rails 17 and 18 arethe grooved rollers 30, 31, 32 and 33, the grooves of the rollers 30 and31 engaging the tongue 28 of the rail 26, and the grooves of the rollers32 and 33 engaging the tongue 29 of the rail 27. By this arrangementtheodrawer may be very easily slid in and out with a roller bearingsupport.

A stop 34secured to the front portion of the under face of the top 8will limit the outward movement of the drawer, by engaging with its back25. Mounted within the central longitudinal space is a slide 35 which,in the construction illustrated, has a length substantially equal 'to'the overall length of the cabinet. This slide carries the rollers 36,37, 38, and 39 in its two side portions, the rollers 36 and 37 havinggrooves engaging the tongue 29 of the rail 26, and the rollers 38 and 39having grooves engaging the tongue 28 of the rail 27. There fore, theslide has a roller'bearing mounting. In its front portion the slide hasacross piece or member 40 which. is shown as having a greater width thanthe'width of the slide itself, being in fact of a width sufficient tospan the rails 26 and 27, as well as the slide 35 is shoved back againstthe rails 26 and 27, and the drawer is fully :closed into the positionshown in Figs. 3 and 4, the cross piece 40 will stand substantiallyflush with the front end of the cabinet. Upon locking the slide 35 inthis-position,

the drawer will also be locked against pull ing out because anyforwardmovementof the drawer must be accompanied by a forward movementof the rails 26' and; 27.

side walls 23 and the hand hold 41.

Means are provided for at times locking the slide 35 in its fully closedposition of Figs. 3 and 4, and also for limiting the forward movement ofthe slide with respect to the drawer during the opening process so as tocause the drawer to travel forward with the slide at such time. For thelatter purpose, the drawer is provided on its under 7 "portion with aslot or recess 42 within which works the upstanding arm 43 of a bracket9 44, which bracket is secured to the top face of the slide 35. Sincethe arm 43 strikes the forward end of the slot- 42 the drawer willbecompelled to travel forward with the slide in the manner shown inFigs. 5 and 6. Nevertheless, on account of the presence of the slot42,the slide 35 can be pulled out of such slot before the movement ofthe drawer commences. In order to lock the slide in the fully closedposition, its rear end a distance substantially equal to the length i isprovided with a pawl 45 adapted to engage a-pin 46 on the top face ofthe back bar 14, a spring 47 normally insuring such engagement. A rod 48connects to said pawl and passes forwardly through a hole or channel 49in the slide, the forward end of such rod carrying a finger piece 50within 7 Upon pulling such finger piece forward the pawl or hook 45 willbe disengaged from the pin 46 to permit the slide to be advanced. Theslide will continue such advancement independently until the drawer iscompelled to travel with it in the manner already explained.

The doors 51 and 52 are hinged to the front ends of the side walls 9 and10 respectwely. These doors close together afbove i the slide 35 but infront of the lower or bottom. portion 22 of the drawer. Therefore, assoon as'the drawer begins to move out, the doors will be contacted andbe swung open into'the position shown in Fig. 1, so thatthey stand atright angles to the front of the cabinet, and parallel to its sides. Inorder to facilitate this opening movement the side portions of thebottom 22 may be curved as shown in Fig. 1. I

Means should be provided for closing the doors when the drawer is movedinto its:- closed position, and I have provided means for automaticallyaccomplishingthis result. This means takes the form of the rods;53-,and54 working within the spaces 19 and-20 respectively and having theirfront ends pivoted to the doors 51 and 52 at the points.v 55 and 56respectively. ends of these rods are connected to blocks 57 and 58 whichare slidably mounted within--the spaces 19v and 20, a simple form ofmounting being that shown in detail. in Fig.

The rear 2. The stop lugs 59 and 60 mounted on the scribed areconcerned, such free movement is not necessary. In such case the frontend of the slide and the hand-hold ll will occupy a position in veryclose proximity to the space between the doors during the closingoperation, since with such an arrangement the slide will be almost fullyinserted as the doors come together. This might re sult in pinching orcatching the hand or finger of the clerk in his haste on some occasionsto close the cabinet, or a cloth or other article removed from thecabinet might become caught between the doors. By

roviding the lost motion previously referred to, the hand-hold 41 willoccupy a projected position such as shown in Figs. 1, 5, and 6, evenwhen the drawer is fully closed, provided that means be established forlocking the slide temporarily to the drawer while the slide is in theprojected po sition illustrated. Such means I have illustrated, the samecomprising a pawl or finger 61 pivoted to the bracket 44 at the point 62and adapted when in one position to seat in front of a pin 63 lyingacross the forward portion of the slot 42. A spring 64: tends to movethe pawl 61 into such position. A finger 65 on the lower end of the pawlengages with a portion 66 of the rod 48, so that upon pulling the fingerpiece 50 forward, the pawl can be permitted to seat in front of the pin63, and thereby lock the slide for the time being in the projectedposition with respect to the drawer. Thereupon by pushing back on thehand-hold 41, the drawer will be forced into closed position and thedoors will swing together while the handhold is still projected such adistance in advance of the cabinet as to remove any possibility ofaccident. Thereafter the finger piece 50 may be pulled to disenga e thepawl 61, after which the slide may be forced back and locked in itsextreme closed position.

\Vhile I have herein shown and described only a single embodiment of thefeatures of my invention, still it will be understood that I do notlimit myself to said embodiment, except aS I may do so in the claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class described, the combination with a casinghaving its front end open, and a pair of doors therefor, of a drawerslidably mounted within the casing and working through said open end,and adapted to swing the doors into open position when it is advanced, aslide bar longitudinally movable with respect to the drawer through apredetermined amount of lost motion, means for compelling the drawer totravel forwardly with the slide when said lost motion hasbeen taken up,means for preventing the drawer from moving forwardly with respect tosaid slide when at the other limit of such lost motion, means forlocking the slide to the casing when the slide and drawer are in theirfully closed position, and the slide stands at its back limit of lostmotion with respect to the drawer to thereby lock the drawer in closedposition, means for locking the slide to the drawer when the slide hasbeen advanced to its limit of movement of lost motion, a hand-holdon'the front end of the slide, and means adjacent to said hand-hold andunder the control of the operator for disengaging both of said lockingmeans at the will of the operator, and means whereby the drawer closesthe doors, as the drawer is moved into 1ts closed position,substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a suitablecasing having a front opening, of a drawer slidably mounted with respectto the casing and working through said opening, doors for the opening, aslide mounted on the drawer, and having a predetermined amount of lostmotion with respect thereto, a hand-hold on the front end of the slide,means for limiting the movement of the slide in either direction withrespect to the drawer, means for at times locking the slide at theextreme forward limit of its lost motion with respect to the drawer,means for at times locking the slide to the casing when the slide is atits back limit of lost motion with respect to the drawer and the draweris in fully closed position, means adjacent to the hand-hold and underthe control of the operator for disengaging said locking means, andmeans whereby the drawer closes the doors, as the drawer is moved intoits fully closed position, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a suit-ablecasing having an opening in its front end, of a drawer working throughsaid opening, a closure for said opening, a slide mounted on the drawerand having lost motion with respect there to, means for limiting theamount of such lost motion in either the forward or backward direction,means for locking the slide to the drawer at the forward limit of lostmotion, and means for locking the slide to the casing when the slide isat the back limit of the lost motion and the drawer is in fully closedposition, means under the control of the operator for disengaging saidlocking means, and means whereby the drawer closes the closure, as thedrawer is fully restored to its closed position, substantially asdescribed.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a suitablecasing having an opening, of a drawer working through such opening, aclosure for the opening,,.aslide mounted on the drawer, means forlocking the slide to the casing when the drawer and slide are in fullyclosed position, means under the control of the operator for disengagingsaid locking means, and means whereby the drawer closes the closure,when the drawer is in fully closed position, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a suitablecasing, of a drawer slidably mounted thereon, a closure on the casingworking in front of the drawer when the same is closed, aninterconnection between the drawer and the closure for closing theclosure when the drawer is restored to closed position, a hand-hold, aslida'ble connection ,from the hand-hold to the drawer permitting apredetermined amount of lost-motion between these parts, and means forat times locking the hand-hold to the drawer in advanced purposespecified.

6. Ina device of the class described, the combination with a suitablecasing, of a drawer working therein, a closure working position for thein advance of theidrawer, an interconnection between the drawer andclosure for closing the closure when. the drawer'is restored to fullyclosed position, a hand-hold, a movable connection between the hand-holdand the drawer, and means for locking the handhold in moved positionwith respect to the drawer for the purpose specified.

OSCAR H. HEINIG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for-five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, ?..0. v

